Characteristics of consumer towards development of sustainable e-waste management in Malaysia

Abstract

The problem of rising electronic waste or known as e-waste generation has not only been faced worldwide, but has also had a significant impact on Malaysia, since it has become a serious environmental concern and contribute to the effect on human health, especially in major urban area. Many initiatives have been done to address the concern of improper e-waste management. Thus, this study intends to determine household characteristics of consumer behaviour toward managing e-waste in an environmentally sound manner as a first step in alleviating the problem. Putrajaya a government administrative centre, was chosen as the case study to represent Malaysia’s paradigm of sustainable urban cities. A constructive questionnaire was distributed to 50 Putrajaya households using random sampling, and the data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 28 and Microsoft Excel. It was discovered that >40% of respondents have good understanding about e-waste management based on their levels of awareness, knowledge, and perception that have significant influence on attitudes toward e-waste management. Furthermore, views regarding e-waste management on impact of recycling behaviour were also determined. On the other hand, the consumers demonstrate a good attribute (80%) in terms of their willingness to make changes toward a sustainable e-waste management. This study provides important information to policymakers, allowing them to take the required steps to increase recycling among Putrajaya homes while also considerably improving e-waste management.